GRADUAN® ASPIRE CAREER & POSTGRADUATE FAIR IS BACK!

Malaysia’s premiere career and networking fair with more than 100 of Malaysia’s leading organisations (Maybank, Celcom Axiata, Shell, Petronas, and many more!) and institutions who have signed up to engage with graduates and talents at GRADUAN® ASPIRE.

Aside from learning more about the organisations you’re interested in, you can drop your CV at the booths or meet up with HR personnel to express your interests and impress them at the same time! Those interested in pursuing their post-graduate studies will find a wealth of information via the many university booths at the fair.

graduan aspire

GRADUAN® APPRENTICE: “WHAT’S NEXT?” CHALLENGE

GRADUAN® APPRENTICE CHALLENGE involves teams in a final elimination round where they have to deliver a rousing pitch to CEO judges on how they can take their business forward.

It will take a lot to impress the CEO judges, who will be grilling the teams on their ideas.
Winners will be handpicked by each CEO for their opportunity to be mentored and to gain valuable industry insight. Take part now! More details at graduan.com/aspire

Telr Aims to Revolutionize Online and Mobile Payments in the emerging markets

For immediate release, Singapore, March 4th 2014 – Ex-Managing Director of PayPal Middle East and North Africa, Elias Ghanem, has started Telr, a multi-currency and multi-lingual payment gateway for SMEs to transform the $100 billion online and mobile payments market1 in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.

“Through my career, I’ve met hundreds of entrepreneurs who face the same hassle when it comes to taking their business online,” says Ghanem, CEO and Co-founder of Telr. “Our payment gateway will allow them to focus on their core business and offer the best customer experience possible.”

Having a tagline of “Your Language. Your Currency.” Telr will provide online and mobile multi-currencies Payment Gateway (PG) processing services to merchants in emerging markets, in the consumer’s currency and language of choice.

Telr’s competitive advantages:

Legacy Payment Gateways

TELR

Consumer experience only in English

Language of consumer

Only in USD currency

Currency of consumer

Setup is inefficient, expensive, time-consuming

Setup is fast with no upfront costs

Lacking mobile payments

Mobile payments enabled

Basic payment services and no financing services

Tokenization, insurance and financing

Only Cards payments and no solution for C.O.D.

Multiple funding sources and solution for C.O.D.

Telr’s suite of services aims to maximize the merchant growth thanks to an easy access to the proceeds (either in local bank or on a dedicated, card-linked account) and other financial services, such as working capital loans and invoice factoring, enabling SMEs to kick-start and grow their online business.

“Telr aims to significantly contribute to the growth of eCommerce merchants. Especially in high growth regions where currently consumers mostly purchase online from e-stores in US, Europe and Asia for the lack of local supply.” says Ghanem.

The main differences between Telr and other PGs are Telr’s management team and proprietary technology. Telr’s team has more than 25 years of extensive experience in cards, online payments and PG set up from Paypal, Visa and HSBC. As part of Singapore’s leading Financial Tech startup accelerator GHX, Telr will get an established advisory board well versed in e-Retailing, banking, Cards schemes, Compliance, Risk and Fraud management.

GHX will also provide technology leaders with decades of experience in platform architecture and management. With that, Telr is built to enable merchants to quickly and simply offer payments solutions from multiple funding sources (cards, bank direct debit, wallets, domestic schemes and proprietary prepaid cards) in multiple languages and local currencies.

“The inefficiencies in most payment gateways make the industry ripe for disruption. Elias’ team has the credentials to drive the payment revolution that everyone wants to see,” says John Fearon, Chairman of GHX.

Telr is headquartered in Singapore with an Operational HQ in Dubai. It aims to contribute to the acceleration of the growth of the eCommerce by expanding its coverage across all the high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia.

Further information about the Founder and Company:

Elias Ghanem, CEO and co-founder of Telr.com

Former MD of PayPal Middle East and North Africa and previously MD of PayPal South East Asia and India, a long-time senior executive at Visa Inc., Mr. Ghanem is a proven payment industry leader with a strong entrepreneurial drive and years of success in managing e-payment solutions. He has developed strategic partnerships and customer acquisition programs leading growth in top line, bottom line, market share and shareholder value worldwide, and has a solid track record of breakthrough results in regional leadership roles at PayPal/eBay, Visa, and Accor Group in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Fluent in five languages, and a 2013 nominee for the Arabian Business “Mentor of the Year” award, Mr. Ghanem is recognized as an inspiring, collaborative leader with solid influencing skills and ability to motivate and lead people in diverse cultural environments

GHX (Gilcrux Holdings) is one of the world’s most innovative investment holding companies. Founded by South African serial entrepreneur, John Fearon, GHX holds his equity in a growing number of exciting startups and established businesses. Spread across many industries, all entities in the GHX portfolio have in common to add technology to traditional businesses (financial services, insurance, invoice factoring, site back-ups, contracting hiring) to accelerate market penetration and improve on consumer experience in a cost-effective and fast growing manner. All entities aim to be game changing and go after grand ideas. GHX supports passionate entrepreneurs in their quest to improve the world – aiming to find interesting ways to disrupt established fields and do it bigger, faster and better.

A stunned and tear-eyed Christine Ng, owner of Christy Ng Shoes, walked away with the grand prize of RM250,000 funding to implement their business plans. Christy Ng Shoes also received complimentary Microsoft Office 365 subscription, a year-long recruitment services’ package worth RM25,000 from jobsDB Group, an exclusive radio interview and a featured article in a mainstream publication. They will soon be paying a visit to Microsoft’s Centre of Excellence in the USA.

In a last-minute surprise twist to the tale, the Bank decided to sweeten the Challenge’s pot with a RM100,000 runner-up prize which was awarded to the first runner-up of the Challenge, TBA Resources Sdn Bhd (Textbook Asia).

“All our Challenge’s finalists have demonstrated that they have what it takes to bring their business to the next level: passion, the entrepreneurial innovative spirit that fuels their business ambitions matched by their level-headed practical nature,” said Steve Miller, Head of Group Business Banking. “It re-affirms the Bank’s belief that when we invest in our customers future and help them to succeed, we will be able to learn from them too.”

At the height of the Challenge in the last week leading to the winner announcement last night, the Challenge’s three finalists (Smooshie Juice, Christy Ng Shoes and Textbook Asia) had to solicit for public votes online before pitching their business plan to the judges for the last time. “It was a very close competition and a tough decision had to be made,” explained Miller. “Which is why, in the end, based on the judges’ recommendation, the Bank decided to sweeten the Challenge by adding a runner-up prize of RM100,000.”

“Textbook Asia had a meaningful proposition of helping students reduce the cost of education, which we felt was highly commendable. Because it mirrors the Bank’s emphasis on quality and meaningful education, we wanted to help Textbook Asia extend this proposition to students across the country.”

The first-of-its-kind Alliance Bank BizSmart Academy and the inaugural SME Innovation Challenge was born out of the Bank’s business proposition of helping customers to succeed by investing in their future. Launched in August 2013, the Challenge invited young SMEs who have been in business between one and three years to submit their business propositions for consideration. From over hundreds of submissions, 13 high-potential young SMEs were selected to undergo structured business coaching and training in Blue Ocean Strategy to enable them to bring their business to the next level.

The 13 SMEs also received guidance from top business leaders the likes of Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liew Kee Sin, CEO & President of the SP Setia Berhad Group, exposed to widespread media and branding opportunities on radio and in print, and supported with new technology solutions from Microsoft to revolutionise their business.

“Our finalists met with our panel of judges led by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Liew Kee Sin two weeks ago to present their business plans based on the Blue Ocean Strategy structured business coaching and mentoring that they had received over the past two months,” said Miller. “Stemming from that pitch, three finalists, Textbook Asia, Smooshie Juice and Christy Ng Shoes, made it to the final round of public voting which accounted for 40% of their scores.”

“At the last pitch-out, each finalist had to demonstrate three main traits during their presentation: entrepreneurship, financial performance and innovation,” elaborated Miller. “In deciding on the winner, the judges looked for commitment and vision, and if our finalists were able to make rational business decisions based on their current and projected financials. Their ability to anticipate and embrace change in a dynamic environment was also considered.”

Foodpanda.my now provides food delivery service to residents of Johor Bahru!

KUALA LUMPUR – The largest food delivery service provider in Malaysia just got larger. Foodpanda has just expanded its delivery service to the south most tip of Malaysia – Johor Bahru. Making this the fifth city that foodpanda has a footprint here in Malaysia.

With a soft launch last Friday, Foodpanda has already received some very encouraging feedback from residents of JB. “This app really has some potential in making life easy for certain groups of people, like working people and students” says Shalin Tan, a local JB resident and new foodpanda customer.

“I am the poster child for your customers – I would use it multiple times a week probably. I have been encouraging people in JB to provide delivery“ says John Hunter, an expat living in JB. Hunter adds “There is a need for decent delivery food in JB. I have told several people I thought it would be a good business to get into and I want to see entrepreneurial efforts, like this, succeed in JB.“

“We are very happy to add Johor Bahru to our list of cities that we provide delivery for” says Claudio Abitante, MD foodpanda.my. “We believe that JB is an underserved market with lots of potential. Already we are seeing very encouraging feedback from both restaurants and customers. We intend to bring our experience in food delivery and strong partner restaurants to the residents of JB” he adds.

Starting with big names such as Chatime, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Vivo Pizza as well as local favorites like Season’s Café and Chakra Restaurant. Residents of Johor Bahru can expect to see other heavyweight foodpanda partner such as Chicken Rice Shop, Old Town White Coffee and other great restaurants in the next few weeks. Currently orders are taken via their website and mobile application on iOS and Google Play.

Foodpanda.my currently operates in the Klang Valley, Penang, Ipoh, Melaka and Johor. Foodpanda plans to make food delivery more accessible and convenient to as many busy Malaysians. They are looking to accomplish this within the next few months by further expanding in the Klang Valley and other major cities in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR, 16 October 2013: MOLPay, a leading online payment solution provider in Southeast Asia, announced today a breakthrough in mobile payment user experience via its Secure 1-Click Payment where customers are now able to complete mobile transactions in a single click. In compliance with the central bank regulations, One Time Password (OTP) authentication will follow-through if a credit card is 3D- enabled.

With the new Secure 1-Click Payment, any return customers will be identified through their user profile with token, a secret key to store and retrieve customer’s credit card information from a secured vault. Therefore, no entry of credit card information is needed to authenticate the transaction.

“User experience is very important especially when it comes to mobile payments. We are excited to be able to offer our merchants a simple and yet secure payment experience.” says Eng Sheng Guan, CEO of MOLPay. MOLPay’s statistics with merchants during a pilot run of this service shows that merchants which utilise the MOLPay’s Secure 1-Click payment can see a 15% increase in successful transaction rates and a reduction in abandoned cart rate up of an estimated 25 per cent. MOLPay has continuously placed research and development efforts to improve its user experience especially for mobile users and introduced a newly enhanced payment page with responsive web design (RWD) technology which is optimised for both desktop and mobile device” screen resolution.

About MOLPay
MOLPay is the leading payment gateway in Southeast Asia that provides global credit card processing and localized alternative payments including online banking, physical cash payment at convenience stores, over the counter, kiosk, etc.

MOLPay is also a Payment Service Provider at multiple banks in the region and non-bank acquirer for Malaysia Financial Process Exchange (FPX) which connects most of the online banking in Malaysia.

MOLPay is part of the MOL Global Group, one of the largest Internet companies in Southeast Asia with offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Australia/New Zealand. For more information about MOLPay, please visit us at www.molpay.com.

Kuala Lumpur – The platform for Startup Launchpad is coming! The launching pad-event created by MAD Incubator will take place on 24th October, just about a week away.

The MAD TechVentures was initiated in 2010 with the aim to provide startups a launch pad to launch their products. The aim is to find the best new start-ups and launch them in front of the industry’s most influential, venture capitalists, corporations, fellow entrepreneurs and the press. It was conceived as part of MAD Incubator’s vision of creating new startup ventures, publicizing them and eventually nurturing them through MAD’s incubation program.

MAD TechVentures 2013 is to launch Malaysia’s Top Technology Start-ups Tech Ventures. The platform is all about tech startups and will feature startups under various categories which are, Mobile & Communications, Games & Creative Contents, Business Applications & Productivity, Community & Social Network, and Subscription & Commerce Marketplace, making it all simply a golden opportunity to showcase their products in hopes to receive venture capitals or angel investors’ attention, publicity and well-deserved awards.

The 16 Technology Start-Ups that will be competing this 24th October 2013, are:

Aushlabs Sdn Bhd – A community marketplace for wedding. It covers everything about wedding, features various service providers, ranging from catering to wedding planners.

Tapway Sdn Bhd – OneTap Event Hub – A platform for event organizations or other businesses to launch an engaging and fun event. This platform consists of an event portal, a few event kiosks (with tablets or mobile devices), a beautifully designed event app for the kiosk and Near Field Communications (NFC) wristbands.

TableApp Sdn Bhd – provides a business application for fine dining restaurants and hotel merchants to organize table booking for their customers, meanwhile users also allowed to book tables and get exclusive offer by using its Birthday Dining App, a mobile application (iOS & Android) which linked with merchants.

Sonovis Sdn Bhd – Mobriq, a cloud-based service for freelancers and agencies to design and generate mobile sites in an easier, quicker and cost effective way. It is optimized for multiple mobile platforms.

dLoop Experience Resources – A travel portal for users to share their passions and interests with those who seek for unique experience during their travel. The system allows users to list, discover and book unique life and travel experiences and accommodation around the region – online or from mobile.

Strategic CT Sdn Bhd – HomeDeco2u.com, a Malaysia-based online home decoration social community, featuring home living enlightenment and inspiration, and aiming to extend into complete social commerce platform in vertical industry.

OpenRecruiters Pte Ltd – OpenRecruiters is the region’s first cloud-based recruitment platform that revolutionizes the way employers manage their recruitment vendors supply chain, acquire and retain top talents all in one place. OpenRecruiters also assists in managing the entire process (i.e. remuneration, contracts, placement, payment, etc) in an unified platform.

National Advanced IPv6 Center – Energy monitoring with Virtual Power Meter System (VPMS). VPMS is an initiative towards monitoring total power consumption, thereby reducing energy costs and consumption for buildings. The ultimate goal of the system is to reduce energy costs through improved energy efficiency and energy management control.

Dynamic Pivot Sdn Bhd – Adz, a digital advertising platform which utilize the lock screen of the mobile phone to display advertisements. Lease lock screens from mobile phone users (thus rewarding mobile phone users), and bundle together as a platform and offer to advertisers to advertise.

MyMobileUni Sdn Bhd – MyMobileUni is a global CSR initiative. It is a FREE learning platform offering academic , lifestyle, lifelong and consumer education for those who want to learn, re-skill and up skill themselves.

Joot Ventures Sdn Bhd – Joota is a social content network aims to help users to build meaningful social networks around content. A bookmarklet tool will be provided to users to choose any content on the Internet, organize it and connecting with others on same or similar content, and this is being named as “Jooting”. Joota can be utilized as a better engagement tool for branding, lead generation and sales purposes.

Insight Software Sdn Bhd – “Engage” offers a solution that enables an effective social-media brand endorsement from your customer in real time. Marketers can effectively combine social-media with engaging events. Social-media objects such as company logos, videos, custom messages and app games are embedded on social postings on the customer’s Facebook without any disruption to the customer’s activities. This solution provides measurable marketing ROI via social-media reach. Detailed analytics about customer behavior and participation is captured through “Engage”.

MAD TechVentures will be held on the 24th of October 2013 on a Thursday, from 9am to 7pm, at Enterprise 4 – Auditorium, Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil. Admission is free. Registration is required to control the number of audience.

Each participating startup will need to launch and demonstrate their product / solution in order to gain the attention from venture capitalists or angel investors, gain more publicity and awards from MAD TechVentures. This is a perfect opportunity for start-ups to showcase their potential in front of their peers and potential investors who can participate the MAD TechVentures by invitation only.

They will be given 6 minutes each to launch or demonstrate, give out handouts, cards, demos or samples which are allowed during or immediately after each finalist’s launch/demo. The launch or demo is followed by four (4) minutes of Q&A by the panel of judges.

MAD TechVentures is not all about the financial rewards but the recognition these startups can get from the publicity and awareness about their technology ventures. This launching pad-event will be the premier platform to cultivate new ideas, promote innovation, identify new promising startups, create new technopreneurs and subsequently create world class startups. These finalists will be judged by the panel of industry luminaries from the MAD ecosystem such as, venture investors, corporate officers, proven entrepreneurs, and participants that will evaluate them from the onstage launch and to the overall value proposition, in order to determine the winners. The announcements will then be made at the close of the event itself.

Past MAD TechVentures winners have gone on to perform very well in getting business traction, recognition in Asia Pacific, venture capital funding and CIP500 grants. Three past winners will be featured in the forum during the MAD TechVentures.

For registration, please logon to madtechventures.com or email to [email protected] For further clarification and information of the event, please do not hesitate to contact Alice Foong at +603-8319 1751 or via email at [email protected]

About MAD Incubator Sdn Bhd

MAD Incubator is Malaysia’s leading and largest private incubator. Formed in 2009, MAD Incubator is an MSC Status Accredited Incubator. MAD Incubator specializes in incubation programs from ideation to business venture and business acceleration. Its mission is to develop 1000 entrepreneurs in Malaysia achieving USD1mil by 2015 and have every entrepreneurs equipped with the tools, skills, knowledge and know-how to navigate their business challenges.

To-date, MAD has incubated more than 80 business ventures and is supporting more than 300 companies through its Business Incubation and Coaching Program. It wants to democratize entrepreneurship by making entrepreneur assistance and incubation affordable for all entrepreneurs through MAD’s high value quality programs, mentoring, coaching and handholding services, as well as business facilities, networking opportunities, training workshops, facilitation on funding access, etc.

ZOCKO, a Tool for Social Influencers to Monetize Their Audience through Social Media Channels, as a new approach in e-commerce industry and being Globally Launched from Indonesia

Jakarta, 1 October 2013 – As a breakthrough in e-commerce industry and along with the rise of increasing number of inspiring icons in the communities that use social media, ZOCKO, an online tool for social influencers developed between Barcelona and Jakarta, is launched in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is also the launch of ZOCKO global activation, aimed at reaching out global market.

ZOCKO enables social influencers to play a big role in monetizing their audience through their social networks and independently earn money using their influence. ZOCKO also creates opportunities for brands around the world, in various categories including fashion, electronics, gadgets, sport as ZOCKO enables social influencers to share about their aspiring products based on their experience or what they like.

(left-right) Daniel Clemente (CTO) and Carlos Puig (CEO)

Carlos Puig, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ZOCKO said, “ZOCKO users are inspiring icons in the community, who have their own audience from diverse interest and background. Everybody has a unique ingredient that can be used to influence over their circle, whether it is wide as smaller,”

“The presence of ZOCKO brings difference and works as a new approach that disrupts between e-commerce and social media. Social influencers can develop their own content in unique ways and add unexplored value to the products – a bit different with the traditional concept of advertising,” said Carlos.

Users simply need to sign up with their social media channels and start sharing customized ZOCKO links to their audiences with their own messages. Then, users can export their cash balance to any Pay Pal account once the balance reaches a minimum of US$50,00. The amount of the rewards depends on the price of the product.

(left-right)_Zocko team-Daniel-Carlos-Zocko team

ZOCKO is first launched based on an invitation and request basis to create exclusive environment to its users. Following to its launch, ZOCKO will hold the first exclusive event for top digital social influencers from fashion, technology, gadgets, sports in Jakarta on October 18 aims to engage more social influencers and make them part of ZOCKO users.

END

About ZOCKOZOCKO is a startup company which derived from Barcelona, Spain. ZOCKO is an e-commerce tool half-way between social media and e-commerce built for social influencers, officially launched its platform and activated its private beta website globally in Jakarta, Indonesia. As part of Creative HotHouse, ZOCKO helps social influencers to independently earn cash rewards when their audiences purchase the products they share or publish through their social networks, email or blogging platforms.Visit http://www.zocko.com/ for more information.

About Creative HotHouseCreative HotHouse is a Code Temple, accelerator of developer entrepreneurs building beautiful and profitable software for the South East Asian markets. Creative HotHouse is a Singapore based company with Temples in Jakarta, Barcelona and soon in Manila. The team is built on over 100 years of track record in the internet and technology industries. There 8 founders are seasoned company builders coming from groups like MIH-Naspers, Rakuten, FCB, Havas Media, Nokia and others.Visit http://www.creativehothouse.com/ for more information.

They include five ventures from the US, two each from India and Canada, and one each from New Zealand, Hong Kong and Israel. Their businesses range from opthamology solutions to biomedical data research, the recycling of oil-based waste for clean fuel and more (see table over).

Each venture was chosen by the assessors for the scale of the problem or opportunity being addressed, the effectiveness of the solution and its impact, the venture’s viability, sustainability and scalability, and the economic benefit to Hong Kong in terms of knowledge and skills, job creation, social and environmental value and more.

The 12 finalists will take part in the StartmeupHK Week from December 2 to7 in Hong Kong. At the culmination of this year’s programme, the Venture Forum on December 5, three Grand Award Winners will be chosen by the judges and forum attendees.

The 2013 StartmeupHK Venture Programme was launched in July, as part of InvestHK’s global initiative to encourage start-ups to set up business in the city. The Department received 384 entries from 39 countries and cities including the US, Israel, the UK, Canada, India, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and others.

InvestHK’s Director-General of Investment Promotion, Mr Simon Galpin, said that the StartmeupHK Venture Programme should help to put Hong Kong on the global start-up map. “It is important for Hong Kong to seize the opportunities brought by start-ups and to grow the city’s start-up ecosystem. I believe that the StartmeupHK Venture Programme is a terrific way to focus attention on this fast-growing segment of our economy,” he added.

Mr Galpin added that the upcoming StartmeupHK Week is a collaborative effort by InvestHK and the broader start-up community in the city to generate awareness of Hong Kong’s potential as the regional hub for entrepreneurs. He anticipates that more than 500 people in the local and overseas start-up communities will gather in Hong Kong between December 2 and 7 for various events on the city’s start-up environment and its opportunities.

“The week-long programme will connect entrepreneurs with investors and business mentors in one of the largest scale events of its kind ever staged in Hong Kong,” Mr Galpin said.

Details of the StartmeupHK Venture Programme 2013 are available on the dedicated websitewww.startmeup.hk. The site offers a one-stop portal to the city’s start-up community, and is the first such Hong Kong Government portal on start-ups. It also lists the latest start-up events and signposts users to various government incentive and incubation schemes.

Invest Hong Kong 2013 StartmeupHK Venture Programme finalists

Name of Company

Origin

Business

D’Arcy Polychrome Ltd

New Zealand

Polychromatic dry granulated pigment

Forus Health Pvt Ltd

India

Mass-screening opthamology solution

Global Spatial Technology Solutions

Canada

Air and maritime traffic data management

Hanson Robotics

US

Humanoid robot manufacturing

IT Central Station

Israel

Social media platform for enterprise technology

J Plus Corporation Ltd

Hong Kong

Sports coaching application

Phoenix Depot International Inc

Canada

Recycling of oil-based waste for clean fuel

Pinnacle Engines

US

Energy-efficient engines

Sanguine Biosciences, Inc

US

Biomedical data research

VajraSoft Inc

US

Intellectual property management solution

Wifinity Ltd

India

IoT (Internet of Things) semiconductor

Zimfly, Inc

US

Mobile Building Information Modelling (BIM) system

About InvestHK

InvestHK is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government established in July 2000 to take responsibility for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong. It provides free advice and customised services to help businesses succeed in Hong Kong’s vibrant economy. As at 2 September 2013, InvestHK has completed 3,000 investment projects creating 33,950 new jobs in the first year of operation or expansion and over HK$78.6 billion of investment. For more information, please visit www.investhk.gov.hk.